6-22-14 Lazarus, Come Forth!

Scripture                                               John 11

(1) I am the resurrection and the Life!  He that believes in me, though he were dead yet shall he live!

(2) A certain man had died in the town of (3) Bethany and Lazarus was his name
The Bible says he (3a) was a man that Jesus loved
And his sisters thought it was a shame
(4) Mary and Martha longed for Jesus' healing touch to come and raise their brother 'Cause they loved that boy so much
But Jesus had a plan not known to any man, that would soon take away their pain.
They waited for Jesus to come and say

(5) Lazarus, Lazarus, (5a) Lazarus come forth

When he died he went to where the saints of God did stay, in the holding place
(6) They lived beyond the tomb
There he saw Elijah, Moses, Samuel, even Ruth And all the others jammed up in a room

He turned around and saw Ol' Gideon standin' by the door
He walked up and said, "Hey brother What's this group here for?"

Well Giddie said, "Well alright this is testimony night. Have a seat man 'cause the meeting is starting soon"
While Mary and Martha, just wanted to see

(7 & a) Lazarus, Lazarus, Lazarus come forth

(8) Moses shook his stick and Said, "Now this meeting come to order.  Can I get a witness for the Lord tonight?"
(9) Abraham kicked it off, Said, "I want y'all to know that I knew him"  He gave a child to my barren wife
(10) Issac waived hi and said, "Hey daddy, I knew him too"
(11) Jacob looked up says "Amen Grandpa, preach it"

(12) Old dignified Solomon Adjusted his robe and said, "I knew him, He made me so smart, I started to teach it"

(13) Ezekiel said, "I knew him As a wheel within a wheel"
(14) Job said, "Man, he healed me When I was almost dead"
(15) Sampson said, "I knew When some Philistines tried to jump me" "I took a donkey jawbone and busted a few heads"
(16) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, We knew him in the fiery furnace
(17) Jonah said, "Man, he gave me a second chance"

(18) Daniel cried out I knew him in a hungry den of lions
(19) The Holy Ghost hit King David, He just started to dance.

Lazarus got so excited He shouted Hey I knew him too
Moses put down his stick Said, (20)  "Hey, who’s the new kid?”
Needless to say the room got real quiet. (21)

Lazarus said but I knew him in a way you all never did. You see, I walked with him and talked with him

I saw how his teachings awed the crowds
Those famous tears of compassion I could actually see
He used to come over to my house after church And my sisters would make him dinner
And every month I even supported his ministry

You see, I watched him confront the Pharisees
I was there when he fed the five thousand
I heard the people gasp when he healed the lame
You see, I even remember the littlest things, The things that most folks would forget, Like the simple, loving way He just called my name

Up at the grave the stone was rolled away –  With a loud voice Jesus started to say,

(22 & a) Lazarus
You see it just seems like yesterday I could hear that man saying my name

Lazarus
As a matter of a fact it seemed like today

Lazarus
Excuse me brothers I think I hear him calling me now

Lazarus
(23) Jesus

Lazarus, Jesus
Lazarus, Jesus
Lazarus, Jesus
Lazarus, hey Jesus
Lazarus, come forth

Come forth, I command you, come forth
"Lazarus, Lazarus, Lazarus come forth"
Like he was saying sickness be healed
Mountains be moved

(24) "Lazarus come forth. Mary don’t weep, Martha don’t moan; here comes your brother up from the tomb" (25) He that believes in me, though he were dead yet shall he live!

 

1. When did this miracle occur? Winter after Hunnakuh, (John 10:22) and before Passover (John 11:55).
2. Where did the miracle occur? Bethany, east of Jerusalem (11:1).
3. Why does Jesus wait? “When Jesus had heard . . . He stayed two days in the same place” (11:6).
•    Our agendas are not God’s.   Isaiah 55:8 “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.”
•    To show us our unbelief. Martha believed Jesus could stop Lazarus from dying, but not raise him from the dead.
•    To testify to outsiders. “Then many of the Jews . . . believed on Him” (11:45).
•    To give time for circumstances to develop.  Lazarus was sick; Jesus let the pathology run its course.
•    To glorify God. “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God” (11:4).
4. How did Jesus relate to His disciples? A teaching opportunity. “I was glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe” (11:15).
•    Jesus waits for a purpose. “Jesus stayed two more days”  (11:6).
• Jesus is unafraid. “The Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?” (11:8).
•    Jesus answers in a parable to get them to think. “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world” (11:9).  a. Sunlight.  b. Spiritual light.
•    Jesus answers by theology. “Lazarus sleeps” (11:11, KJV).
Disciples thought sleep was therapy.
•       Jesus answers plainly. “Lazarus is dead” (11:14).
•    Jesus still has a relationship to Lazarus, even in death.
•    Thomas’ doubt is revealed. “Let us also go that we may die with him” (11:16).
-Wescott noted: “Thomas will die for the love which he has, but it will not affect the faith which he has not”
5. How does Jesus answer Martha’s disappointment? “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (11:21).
a. Blames Jesus.  (has anyone ever blamed God that someone died? – YES! Even atheist)
•    Martha thought Jesus was inferior to God. “Whatever you ask of God, God will give you” (11:22). The word for ask is an inferior asking a superior.
•    Martha believed in the principle of resurrection, but not the person. “I know He will rise again in the resurrection” (11:24).

•    Jesus’ answer. “I am the resurrection and the life!” (11:25).
6. How does Jesus answer Mary’s discouragement?
•    Martha grieved inwardly, but Mary wept outwardly. “The Jews . . . followed her, saying she is going to the tomb to weep there” (11:31).
•    Mary is always seen at the feet of Jesus. “Mary fell down at His feet” (11:32). Our unbelief hurts Jesus. “When Jesus saw . . . He groaned in His spirit and was troubled” (11:33).
•    Jesus weeps with us. “Jesus wept” (11:35).
Why did Jesus weep?
•    The ignorance of His disciples.  OR
•    He weeps with Martha and Mary.  OR
•    The callousness of the Jews (11:46).  OR
•    His compassion for Lazarus.
7. What is Jesus’ attitude towards death?
•    Remove the hindrance or barriers. “Take away the stone” (11:39).
The Division of Labor:  Man’s job: Remove the stone and take off grave clothes.

                                       God’s job:  Raise the dead and give life.
• Why did Martha not want to open the grave? “Martha said. . . he stinks: for he has been dead four days” (11:39).
a. Repulsive odor.
b. Emotionally upsetting.
c. Sanctity of the body.
d. Not want to have another burial.
• World says seeing is believing, but God says the opposite; believing is seeing. “If you would believe, you would see the glory of God” (11:40).
• Prayer of thanksgiving. “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me” (11:41).
• Why did Jesus yell with a loud voice? “He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth’” (11:43). For the crowd.
• What is the parallel between Lazarus and our new life in Christ?
a. After new life, the grave clothes must be removed. (SIN)
b. We need help from others. (The Church)

 

Because Jesus raised a man to life – the Pharisees wanted to put Jesus to death.  After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead this is what happened according to John 11:45 and following:

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.  "What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." 49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

CONCLUSION

Rom 8:37-39

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

 

 

John 11     Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."

4 When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."  5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. 7 Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." 8 "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?"  9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. 10 It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light." 11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." 12 His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

16 Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

28 And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 "Where have you laid him?" he asked.  "Come and see, Lord," they replied. 35 Jesus wept.

36 Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 "Take away the stone," he said.  "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." 40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"  44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.  Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.  "What are we accomplishing?" they asked. "Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation." 49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, "You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."

51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.

55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, "What do you think? Isn't he coming to the Feast at all?" 57 But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him.